Photo of Ernie taken by me in Tegal

mood: pusing

Aduh, I’'ve put so much pressure to myself lately. Fabio is going to be away at the same time I’m away for Ernie’s wedding. He’s going to Jakarta for a week and then flying to Aceh for a few days to attend one of the supervision missions of Aceh Forest and Environment Project. SO that means I'’ve got to do a lot of stuff before he goes to those two places so that he can be better-prepared for the interviews. *sigh* Capeeeekkkkk.....

Anyway. One more working day to go, then flying out to Jakarta then Medan. I'’m excited!!! I haven'’t seen Ernie for a while now and it'’ll be good to see her again. Especially for this special occasion: her wedding! I believe neither of us had any clue at all that she would get married like at this time of the year. If you knew Ernie back then, you would have described her as this career woman who wanted to pursue a lot of things in life (marriage was one of them, but we didn't think it was a number one thing, neither did she, I guess). And also the fuss about her ex who had always haunted her... So when she met Ken in Bali just a little bit over a year ago, who would have guessed it would have progressed this much and this soon that he could take her to the altar of a commitment?

What a lucky guy.
What a lucky woman.

Hope the best for you two. Hope the best for me, too (what am I talking about?)

And let's have fun at your wedding and Lake Toba! HORAS!!!

North Sumatra, I'm coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5:03 pm

Here's the email my sister sent me today and got me freaked out.

--

dear carla,

tgl 22 ai kecelakaan. kepalanya bocor. jatuh dari kursi di meja belakang pas kena semen yang buat cuci baju. aq ditelpon mama lsg pulang tak bawa ke rsi jemursari. jahitan 8. pas di belakang kepala.

sekarang udah gak apa. besok jum'at balik ke rsi kontrol jahitan. untung kepala tengkorak gak pecah,

bisa gegar otak. tapi sekarang udah gak apa kok....

malem dr rumah sakit wes penekan pager maneh.. arek itu terlalu aktif. medeni.

zita

--

I'm so so so so so so SAD. and WORRIED! My lovely niece!!!!!!!!!!

3:30 pm

I hate Indon blog.

I was fuming when I read the most recent post which summarized why the owner of this blog hated Indon -- a sarcastic addressing of Indonesian people (by Malaysian), more in the sense of Indonesians being the overseas workers (read: domestic maids) in Malaysia, which carries the low appreciation in the country's society.

I had to honestly agree with some of those points, but I was patriotically infuriated, nevertheless. Until I read the comments, most of which were posted by Indonesian people with piling rage (blushes to the language they used!).

Then it brought me to reality that... this is a circular thing. I mean... are the Malaysians really that brutal or was there anything else behind this insulting piece of writing? Indonesian did create this www.malingsia.com (Maling = thief) in response to the case of the "shared" history between both countries, each of which claims to own the heritage culture of say... batik, traditional songs (Rasa Sayange) or even language! So aren't we also brutal then?

And a few years back, similar things also happened, no?

It will never ever stop, will it? The jealousy both Indonesia and Malaysia have for each other. Now I kind of understand why most of the hostels in Kuala Lumpur kicked me off (post: Indonesian? Not Accepted) when I was trying to get a bed there just this year, solely because I am an Indonesian.

Sigh.

2:23 pm

Indonesia Matters is the only blog that we (Carol and I) need to frequently (daily!) check for Fabio. Its content is mostly about serious but interesting matters that are happening in Indonesia (mostly of politics, religion and other big stuff about the country). For you who despise politics in general, it may not appear as a quite interesting blog whose RSS you want to subscribe, but if you like intelligent topics, this site is a good one to read. I'm most interested in reading its rather sarcastic contents and hilariously funny comments and/or arguments that were dropped by the visitors of the blog. So bottomline is I really recommend you to read this blog!

Today I just happened to do the newsbrief of Indonesia (and not the other countries) so I browsed Indonesia Matters. And there, it listed a huge number of Top 100 Indonesian blogs (or of expats who live in Indonesia). I continued surfing on the English-written blogs section, and there! My blog is listed there #58 (at the moment I checked it), with its page rank from Google, Yahoo and other search engines!!! I don't know about you, but I think it was soooo cool.

I realise that I don't post blogs too often (I'm terribly busy!), but this encourages me to keep this blog alive. So expect another post soon! Yay!

11:57 am

Image taken from here.

My ex-colleague, Ayu, at EF Tegal hardly ever writes an email; I mean really really write something that she means to say or communicate with her contacts. But she is so much into sending forwarded chain mails (read: junks!). This is one of the very very few of them that I happened to open and read. I normally trash them away without even bothering to open the email.

And why am I bringing it up now? Because my dear cousin just emailed me the same thing! Similar, at least. Below I took from my cousin's email.

Pay attention to the end of the post. Sometimes I'm wondering if people who do send stuff like this are actually really afraid of the "threat" or just have nothing better else to do.

As for me for posting it in my blog and commenting on it, that's definitely because.... I WANT TO UPDATE MY BLOG BUT I JUST DON'T HAVE THE TIME TO PUT MY MIND INTO MAKING A GOOD POST! *desperate*

VIRGO – that’s me.

The Perfectionist – hmm… I’ve gone through this perfectionist stage. I don’t think I am anymore. Though I do still like to have the tendency to earn for the best, it doesn’t have to be perfect.

Dominant in relationships. – I don’t know. I think I’m very tolerating. I speak my mind indeed, but I don’t force my ideas.

Conservative. – Who me? But as in which perspective of life is this conservativeness? I’m definitely NOT in some ways. ;)

Always wants the last word. – Not true. I’m very much into discussions and solution-making that’s agreed by both sides.

Argumentative. – Ah ya, I seem to have an answer to almost everything you say. It doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m opposing you. Sometimes I just do it to keep a communication alive.

Worries. – Sometimes. Not too much now. Now only limited to crucial or feeling-related stuff.

Very smart. – Indeed, I am. *smug*

Dislikes noise and chaos. – Once in a while. But I’m indifferent.

Eager. – Yeah.

Hardworking. – Hell, yeah. What do you think I'm doing now in this island of Bali working at two places (demi sesuap nasi) instead of partying and getting a guy in sight!

Loyal. – Yes! But unfortunately some people don’t think so, basing on very few misunderstandings. L

Beautiful. – Ah, well, I know you don’t want me to confirm this, anymore often than I already have.

Easy to talk to. – It appears to be true, I guess? Considering how many friends would like to share thoughts with me.

Hard to please. – I think it’s right. *sigh* Sorry.

Harsh. – Honestly… I think I am. Only to certain people who deserve it. But I can be very sweet as well.

Practical and very fussy. – Practical, yes. Very fussy, no. A little bit maybe, but not very.

Often shy. – Mwah.. yeah. Not that bad now, but used to be quite shy.

Pessimistic. – NO WAY. I’m very optimistic.

7 years of bad luck if you do not forward. – Go to hell. I’ve got this a lot and I have got no imbalanced luck of good and bad.

3:53 pm

mood: slow
listening to: some laid back music
reading: Rebuilding Together - Multi Donor Fund for Aceh and Nias, Progress Report - December 2005

I got a ticket from a traffic police yesterday, for I didn't have a driver's license with me. I was like humm.. okay, just hand me the ticket. But the police officer "kindly" offered to have an "on-the-spot court" [read: bribe me, please oh pretty please]. I shrugged and told him I didn't have any cash with me. That was true. Just spent my last one for lunch a few hours before.
His other "kind" solution was for me to visit him at the police office to "settle the matter."

I was in a hurry for a teaching session at IALF, so I let him take the paper of the motorcycle I rented. I guess I do have to go to the police office tomorrow to get it finalised.

It was my fault, I have to admit. But I also couldn't quite appreciate this rather shameless attitude of openly asking to get bribed of these Balinese police officers. No wonder this country's progressing so slowly. Every single state-officer is crooked, no matter what their level is.

For this "kelas teri" traffic police officer, he'll be quite happy if he can get Rp 50,000 (or perhaps less?) from me and the other rule-breakers. But then again, multiply the number of us (which I believe is quite a lot) and sum up their total earning of this traffic papers bust. May be as well serve them more money than their monthly salary.

Consider that as a donation? Hmm...

1:09 pm

A very Indonesian point of view, but at the same time so very true. Kebaya is a quick way to make Indonesian women look a million times more beautiful.

I just happened to find out that in Bali, Kuta especially, staffs of shops, restaurants and hotels are asked to wear kebaya (women) and a traditional clothing for men on Sundays. My neighbour of the same boarding house, Farida, told me that she was ought to wear the green kebaya she had customarily made when she went to the spa to work every Sunday. That's interesting. It's something I can't really get in where I work now (but please note that this is not a complaint). I mean, come on... my full time job with the journalist is cool. I could be wearing anything I like. Bikini is possible if I want (but why should I? haha). Just... I think it will be nice to have at least 1 kebaya in my collection (and I haven't really got clothing collection!). Let's see if I can buy or have it made one day.

The photo above, however, was taken on the 12th of October 2007 when I was interviewing people in relation with the Bali Bombing ceremony. Those girls work at the Guardian shop, in front of the Bali Blast monument in Kuta Bali. And they looked so pretty. Don't you agree?

9:56 am